Working Mothers Will March As “Mummies” on Halloween and Other News Women Need to Know This Week

Discussions around the gender wage gap flooded the ethers this week—with one group of women inventing one of the most witty ways to highlight the discrimination faced by working mothers. That wasn’t the only protest that happened this week, however, so let us catch you up.

The good news:

This Halloween, some women will dress up as part of their activism. On October 31, hundreds of women across the U.K. will wrap themselves up in bandages as “mummies” to protest the discrimination faced by working—you guessed it—mommies. According to a 2015 report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, one in nine new mothers said they’ve been forced out of their jobs. This “March of the Mummies” has been organized by Pregnant Then Screwed, a platform on which women can share their stories of pregnancy or maternity discrimination.

Following news that Trump has rolled back the mandate requiring employers, insurance companies, and colleges to provide birth control, women have started sending the invoices for their birth control to the president. The campaign is funded by the Women’s Equality Center, which has created a website that can help women generate their to-be-posted bills.

Diane von Furstenberg received the Master Mentor award at Monday night’s iMentor Champions Dinner. According to WWD, von Furstenberg spoke to attendees about the importance of mentoring young women, especially in light of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. “Mentoring is paying attention to others, sharing your experiences and frustrations,” the designer said. “If you are successful, tell kids around you that the reason you’re successful is because you felt like a loser growing up.”

The bad news:

According to a report obtained by The Washington Times, the Pentagon is recommending requiring women to sign up for the draft. This, supposedly, would be good for the military. But, women, if transgender members are banned from serving, do we even want to be part of it?

The Washington Post released a report on the gender wage gap on Thursday. As women currently make 80 cents on the dollar compared to men, this would mean that, on average, women would have started working for free from that same day.

This problem also persists at BBC, where, as The Guardian reports, 10 senior women are now planning to take legal action against the company if the broadcaster fails to resolve the pay gap issue. Following the release of a pay list earlier in the summer, it was revealed that women made up just one third of the company’s highest paid on-air stars, and the top seven highest paid were men. Additionally, the report showed that men were paid 9.3 percent more than women at the company on average, though the U.K. average is 18.1 percent.

Rose McGowan revealed to The New York Times that Weinstein offered her $1 million for her silence days before the newspaper was set to publish their story on the mogul’s history of sexual assault. McGowan was allegedly assaulted by Weinstein in 1997, which led to a $100,000 settlement between the actress and the mega-producer. McGowan, however, decided, after some deliberation, to decline on the offer. “I don’t want your money,” McGowan said. “That would make me feel disgusting.”

In case you missed it:

Actress and activist Emma Watson proves that a red lip can be a powerful feminist statement.

Another woman has spoken out about R. Kelly, who is already plagued by a series of assault and abuse allegations.

The undocumented teenager “Jane Doe,” whose desire to terminate her pregnancy embroiled her into a fight against the Trump administration, finally received an abortion on Wednesday.